Pardon my typo title - Maybe Jenn can clean that up for me? So I was cleaning the kitchen earlier and had a random thought: What makes you a writer? Is it when you write? Is it when you’re paid to write? Do you have to write well to be a writer? I sing while I drive (mostly Disney tunes thanks to my young passengers), but I’m not a singer. Nobody would ever pay me to sing, that’s for sure. I’m paid (well) to write, but don’t really call myself a writer. I think it’s a mental thing, really. I always envision a “writer†as the tortured soul locked in a bit of writer’s block in an isolated cabin somewhere while working on the Great American (or English or Whatever) Novel. I’m not writing a novel nor do I plan to, although I might write a few manuals on teaching strategies some day. Therefore, when people ask me what I do, I tell them I write website content. I don’t think I’ve said, “I’m a writer.†I'd feel like I was misleading them somehow. So does that mean I’m not a writer despite the fact that I write professionally? Just something to chew on while you struggle with your Great Novel writer's block. Rebecca
Funny, but it was actually years after being employed as a copywriter than I actually referred to myself as a professional writer. In fact, I think it was someone interviewing me that referred to me that way first. I've written all my life. If there was a project or paper, that was my opportunity to get an A+. Except for research papers. I was horrible at those. I just cannot leave the bias out which would always sneak in in those darned research papers. I was meant to add "sell".
1) If you clean your kitchen every week/day are you cleaner? Don't think so. 2) If you clean your kitchen every week/day are you cleaner? I think so, if you are hired by someone as cleaner. Is here any difference? Maybe. In first case you clean for yourself (or your family). It is supposed as unselfish work. In second case you clean for someone who pays you. It is supposed as mercenary (goal) work. So if you write for yourself you are not a writer? Maybe. Why? Writer always write for readers (readers are writer's goal). If there are no readers or you are the only one, you are not a writer. You are writer, because you write for somebody. The problem is still in people's mind. They think writers have to write books. But there may be also article writers, content writers, copy writers... just say it to people - "I am web content WRITER"...
I don't consider myself any less of a writer as a business writer than I do for working on books. And I don't see myself feeling like any more of a writer if and when I get those books published (through a publisher or self-published). At the same time, I've been writing for close to 10 years now for clients, and I don't think I really considered myself a "writer" (at least not in a way I'd mention to anyone else) until 2005. That was when my writing had a bigger, more public, audience (past writing was mostly seen by students where my materials were used in teaching courses or the occasional limited community members when they were distributed at events).
I think that this question is sort of like asking whether or not there is a difference between being a writer and an author. As for being "a writer" that's how I think of myself when it comes to occupation and hobby simply because that is what I spend the majority of my day doing (or dealing with). I suppose, at heart, I am a "blogger" or "television watcher" When people ask what I do, though, I usually say that I am a content producer or a copywriter because when people hear "writer" they get the same ideas the OP noted.
You're a writer if you write. It doesn't matter if it's just in your journal, or professionally. It's the same thing with cleaning. If you clean you are a cleaner. That doesn't specifically denote that you are a professional cleaner it just means you clean things. I'm a cleaner, and a writer, and a ton of other things, just by doing those actions.
Are you a writer if you write things that nobody reads? (hearing a scream in space type thing) If yes, then do you actually have to write it down? Are you a writer if you just dictate the words onto a recorder? If you don't have to write them down, and nobody needs to hear them anyway, would this would make anyone who had any thoughts a writer?
I think you are a writer when you write seriously practice writing, whether as a hobby or profession. I don't believe anyone has to read your writing, for you to be a writer. Many of Emily Dickinson's poems weren't read until after she died, yet she was still a poet.
Interesting question. I've never thought to call myself a "writer," although I do earn much of my income from writing. I used to work in law enforcement - and did a LOT of writing - keeping notes, writing reports, Crown Briefs, etc etc. Ever been to a police station and watched all the writing that goes on?
You are a "writer" if you study, gain a significant level of competence in, and practice the art & craft of writing.
I think if you get paid to produce original written content then you can certainly call yourself a writer. I've always thought that if you don't describe yourself as a writer you won't believe you are one, and so no one else will either!
I like that. For years I have been saying that I was a professional author, writer and photographer, but until I read this sentence I never really connected the words with my identity. According to Writer's Digest, an author is someone who has had a book published, even if they had to pay the publisher to do it. I remember meeting one vanity press author. He had assembled an historical book about his community and had it published at his cost. But then he went one (or two) steps farther and set about selling it himself. The first buyer of his book was Hillary Clinton -- who was a great patron of the arts while in Arkansas, and probably later. Then the author told the press that Hillary had bought the book, and liked it. In a matter of weeks the first edition had sold out -- and he publicized that event also. Then all the public libraries in the state asked for copies and it wasn't long before he had sold out the second edition. In my opinion, a professional writer is one that the publisher, editor, and reader can depend on; the writing being offered must produce an effect desired by the purchasers. For thirty years submission after submission came back to me REJECTED, and I would cry, "Why won't they buy it?" and I had no clue why they wouldn't even when (published ) writers told me why. When publishers, editors and readers first accepted and then began asking for more of my work I began calling myself a writer. But it wasn't until my standards of excellence in producing the written word were higher than the standards set by my buyers, publishers, editors and readers, that I began calling myself a professional writer.
I am a writer, but I'm not interested in listing all the reasons why. A MLB player considers himself a "baseball player" as does someone in the single "A" ball (lowest minor league). It's not really a question of ability as it is a question of task. Although we tend to use them interchangeably as a qualifier, such as, "and you call yourself a ball player." The task of writing something down doesn't make you a writer. It makes you someone who is writing something down. When you are practicing the art of writing (writing articles, poems, books), then you are a writer regardless of whatever else you might do--in the broad sense. More applicably, a writer would be someone who practices the art somewhat frequently. So, Rebecca, while you might not be writing the next great novel or NY Times piece (and might not be what we traditionally think of as a writer), you're still practicing the art of writing (at whatever skill level) and thus you're a writer.
As a part of my former education I learned typewriting and I truly enjoy typing either here at my computer or using a traditional typewriter so I was impressed with a cartoon in a newspaper depicting the "slave job" of a secretary whose fingers were melted with her machine keys. If you love what you love to do is not slavery, and if you are paid for it is in addition a pleasure. Does a typewriter make you a writer? No, but if you feel the Nobel Prize in Literature every time you are using it you can probably develop a writing career regardless you are a truly gifted writer or you are not. In conclusion, anyone can write for any given reason, but only a writer has that inner conviction and he/she can cultivate it or improve it to achieve personal goals, as Rebecca can develop a singing career if she would like and/or feel she can do it, so can you